An argument from Rebecca Bensted on a new Euthanasia bill in the UK.

Rebecca Bensted

Summary of the immediate future of the laws concerning euthanasia

There will be a debate in the House of Lords on the 10th October regarding the Report of the Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill. By convention the Lords will not hold a vote on any proposals or issues at this stage. However the debate will be important for:

• Raising concerns publicly about euthanasia and assisted suicide


• Influencing other peers


• Possibly influencing the contents of any future bill and shaping the debate to come


• Giving an indication of the 'mood of the House' to the Government

The indications are that Lord Joffe will introduce another Bill into the House of Lords. However, it is anticipated that this Bill will only deal with "Physician Assisted Suicide" rather than full euthanasia. It is expected that the Bill will be introduced as early as possible after the debate on the 10th October - quite possibly within a matter of days.

This means that if great efforts are not made and if the tide is not turned within Parliament, a form of euthanasia may be legal very soon.

Do you think citizens of the UK should be given a right to be killed?

"The Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill" put forward in the last Parliamentary session is an attempt to legalise euthanasia. Euthanasia is the intentional killing of a patient by act or omission as part of their "medical treatment" when a patient's life is not felt to be worth living. Euthanasia is currently illegal in the UK and in virtually all countries of the world. However the pressure to legalise it is strong.

Biblical Christianity says 'No'

As Christians I believe we should be fundamentally opposed to the principle of euthanasia. We believe that life is sacred from conception. We believe that our significance derives not from our "quality of life" but from our status as human beings made in God's image. Genesis 9:6 sets out the basis for the Bible's fundamental prohibition on killing: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God has God made man". God is our creator and in that sense human life is not our "property" to dispense with as we choose.

Experience says 'No'!

The available evidence from Holland, where euthanasia has been legal for some years, demonstrates the frightening reality that voluntary euthanasia leads to involuntary euthanasia. The Dutch government has acknowledged that they now have a serious problem with involuntary euthanasia which, of course, is in fact nothing other than murder. In 1990 a Dutch study found that 1,000 people were killed without their consent. A more recent study of 4,500 euthanasia deaths in 1995 found that 1 in 5 were killed without their consent. These figures are just the tip of the iceberg. There were thousands more cases which did not fall within the narrow definition of euthanasia adopted by the Dutch, where treatment was withheld or withdrawn with the explicit intention to shorten life, the majority of which occurred without any explicit request from the patient. Further, there is evidence that elderly Dutch patients are choosing to be treated in German hospitals, for fear of being killed by Dutch doctors.

Our Consciences say 'No'

People who feel uncertain about whether their lives are worth living are vulnerable to being manipulated. If given the "right" to do so, people may feel an obligation to end their lives so as to remove a perceived burden from those who care for them. Euthanasia undermines the needs of these vulnerable people. Dr Nigel Sykes, Medical Director of St Christopher's Hospice, London stated that only 3.5% of patients dying of cancer were in favour of euthanasia. Similarly, a survey of elderly in the Netherlands showed that over 90% of those living in nursing homes were opposed to euthanasia.

Doctors and Nurses say 'No'